Slicing machine



W. J. CAMPBELL 'SLICING MACHINE Filed Jan.

July 27, 1937.

7, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 27, 1937. w. J. CAMPBELL I 2,087,898

* SLICING MACHINE L Filed Jan. 7, 1931 3 Sheet's-Sheet 2 Y J Z! w iPatented July 27, 1937 SLICIN G MACHINE William J. Campbell,Indianapolis, Ind., assignor to American Slicing Machine Company,Ohicago, Ill.,'a corporation of New York Application January 7, 1931,Serial No. 507,171

10 Claims.

My invention relates to a slicing machine of the type in which a knife,for example a rotary knife, is associated with an upright guard plate, agauge plate generally parallel with the guard plate, and a worksupporting carriage for conveying the work past the cutting edge of theknife in general parallelism with carriage and guard plate. One objectof my invention is the provision of an improved form of the control oractuating means for a pusher plate on the carriage. Another object isthe provision of manual means for permitting or causing the pusher plateto move yieldingly forwardly toward the carriage plate when the carriageis returning, after 'a cutting excursion, to position for beginning thefollowing cutting excursion. Another object is the provision of meansfor limiting the forward movement of the pusher plate, together withmanually operable means, for interrupting such limiting means. Otherobjects will appear from time to time in the course of the specificationand claims.

I illustrate my invention more or less diagrammatically in theaccompanying drawings, where- Figure 1 is an end elevation with parts insection;

Figure 2 is a front elevation;

Figure 3 is a partial plan View;

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of Figure Figure 7 is. .a partialend elevation. of the carriage illustrating a variant form-of guardmember; and

Figure 8 is a section on the line 8-8 of Figure 7.

Like parts are indicated by like symbols throughout the specificationand drawings.

Referring to the drawings, A generally indicates any suitable slicingmachine base, mounted for example on yielding struts A A is anupstanding frame portion upon which may be mounted, in any suitablefashion, the rotary knife A and the forward guard plate therefor A Aindicates a motor which may drive the knife A through the pulley-A thebelt A and the pulley A a B indicates a gauge plate whichmay be mountedin any suitable fashion, for example on links B responsive toIthelrotation of the manual control knob B whereby the gauge plate maybe moved toward and away from the cutting plane.

C is any suitable cover member.

D is a cylindrical track along which is slidable the carriage structure,generally indicated as D D is a rectangular guide track, herein shown asvertically aligned beneath the track: D. It may be engaged, for exampleby the downward extension D of the carriage structure which serves toprevent unintended rotation of the carriage about the track D. Anysuitable take-up means may be employed, such as the screw D and the nutD The form of carriage herein illustrated is shown as including a Worksupporting and guiding trough D including the walls D and D Mounted onthe carriage structure D and extending outwardly therefrom adjacent thesupporting wall or face D is a hollow guide pin or rod E, the inner endof which is screw threaded as at E to be screwed into the screw threadedapertures E in the carriage D Its end is enlarged as at E to serve as abearing and stop portion for an outer cylindrical sleeve E The sleeve Eis inwardly reduced as at E the portions E and E respectively beingadapted to stop or limit the outward movement of the sleeve E inrelation to the shaft E. A spring E5 is anchoredyat one end to the screwthreaded plug E which closes the outer end of the sleeve E It isanchored at the other end to an abutment or eye E as shown for examplein Figure 4.

Slidably mounted upon the exterior sleeve E is any suitable pusher platestructure, including a sleeve G, a projection G therefrom, a pin G 3mounted in said projection, and a pusher plate G mounted upon said pin,as by the bracket G The pin G is preferably rotatable in relation to thearm G passing for example through a sleeve G Interposed between theshaft E and the outer sleeve E is the following locking arrangement. Acollar H is secured to the inner end of the sleeve E and includes aninwardly projecting portion H having a beveled or conic locking surfaceH The member Halso includes a seat H fora spring H which surrounds themember H. The opposite end of the spring engages the inward projection Hof the generally cylindrical member H shown as exteriorly knurled as atH". Its opposite end is closed by the screw threaded plug H which issomewhat spaced from the shaft E and has a cylindrical ring or.flangeprojecting within the conic locking seat H This fiange is brokenby a plurality of apertures H in which seat balls H As will be seen fromFigure 4, these balls engage the interior surface of the conic seat HThe effect of the spring is to thrust the balls inwardly along the shaftE against the conic locking seat H Thus the normal effect of the springis to hold the sleeve E against longitudinal movement in relation to theshaft E, and a manual movement of the locking assembly is necessary, inorder to free the balls H from their locking relationship, to permit thespring E to move the pusher plate structure inwardly toward the cuttingplane.

It will be understood, as from the full line and dotted lineillustration in Figure 2, that the pusher plate may be swung intoinoperative position below the carriage, in which position it may beheld as by the abutment J, with its forward tapered nose J and itssecuring circumferential aperture J in which the edge of the pusherplate may sit. In; order to prevent the pusher plate from battering thebottom of the carriage structure, I may provide one or more guardmembers, such as are shown as at J J which prevent the edge of thepusher plate from contacting the bottom of the carriage. These guardmembers may be integral, as shown in Figure 6, or may be separatelyformed, as shown in Figures 7 and 8.

It will be realized that whereas I have described and shown a practicaland operative device, that nevertheless many changes may be made insize, shape, number and disposition of parts without departing from thespirit of my invention. I wish my drawings, therefore to be taken as ina broad sense illustrative and diagrammatic, rather than as limiting meto my specific showing herein.

The use and operation of my invention are as follows:

The spring E normally tends to move the pusher plate structure G towardthe cutting plane, thus moving the work positively against the gaugeplate and guard plate. However, it is desirable, when the work is setagainst the gauge plate, to prevent any additional pressure orcontinuing spring pressure against the guard plate after the slice issevered. I therefore provide locking means, including the spring H whichresists the movement of the spring E The looking means may be releasedto permit the normal gauging thrust, as by manual movement of theknurled portion of the sleeve H permitting the Work to be positionedfirmly against the gauge plate. For example a manual forwardthrust ofthe knurled member moves the balls H out of their locking connectionbetween the opposed surfaces of the members H and E, the spring H beingcompressed. Then the slicing excursion is made, but the spring E cannotmove the work forwardly until the operator again releases the lockingmeans. This he may do at the end of the return excursion, againpermitting the spring E to advance the work against the gauge plate. Thelocking means keeps the material upon the carriage out of contact withthe guard plate, knife and gauge plate during the return excursion andthus prevents larding of said members; this also reduces to a minimumsliding or rubbing of the work against a surface which results incleaner looking slices.

I claim:

1. In a slicing machine which includes a knife and means for actuatingit, a gauge plate and a guard plate lying in generally parallel planes,a carriage and means for guiding the carriage across the faces of gaugeand guard plates and past the cutting edge of the knife, 2. pusher platemounted on said carriage and normally movable toward and away from thecutting plane, spring means for urging the pusher plate toward thecutting plane of the knife, self-locking means tending normally to lockthe pusher plate urging means against movement towards the knife whileleaving the same free to be retracted, said looking means including aone-way clutch mechanism biased to clutching position, and a manuallyoperable clutch control element for releasing said clutch to permit saidspring means to advance the pusher plate.

2. In a slicing machine which includes a knife and means for actuatingit, a gauge plate and a guard plate lying in generally parallel planes,a carriage and means for guiding the carriage across the faces of gaugeand guard plates and past the cutting edge of the knife, a pusher plate,means for mounting the pusher plate on the carriage for movement towardand away from the cutting plane of the knife including a guide memberfixedly mounted on the carriage, a sleeve member slidably mounted uponsaid fixed guide, said pusher plate being mounted upon said sleeve,yielding means normally tending to move the sleeve and pusher platetoward the cutting plane, self-locking means tending normally to securethe sleeve and guide to lock the sleeve against movement toward thecutting plane while leaving the same free to be retracted, and meansmanually to release said locking means to allow the yielding means toadvance the pusher plate.

3. In a slicing machine which includes a knife and means for actuatingit, a gauge plate and a guard plate lying in generally parallel planes,a carriage and means for guiding the carriage across the faces of gaugeand guard plates and past the cutting edge of the knife, a pusher plate,means for mounting the pusher plate on the carriage for movement towardand away from the cutting plane of the knife and including a guide fixedon the carriage, a guide for the pusher plate axially movable inrelation tosaid fixed guide, the pusher plate being mounted upon saidlast mentioned guide, yielding means normally tending to move themovable guide and pusher plate toward the cutting plane, self-lockingmeans including a one-way clutch biased to clutching position in- Iterposed between the fixed and the movable guide members and tending torelatively secure said members to lock the movable guide againstmovement toward the cutting plane of the knife while leaving it free tobe retracted, and a manually operable clutch control element forreleasing the clutch to permit the yielding means to advance the movableguide and pusher plate.

4. In. a slicing machine which includes a knife and means for actuatingit, a gauge plate and a guard plate lying in generally parallel planes,a carriage and means for guiding the carriage across the faces of gaugeand guard plates and past the cutting edge of the knife, a pusher plate,means for mounting the pusher plate on the carriage for movement towardand away from the cutting plane of the knife and including a guide fixedon the carriage, a guide for the pusher plate axially movable inrelation to said fixed guide, the pusher plate being slidably mountedupon said last mentioned guide, yielding means normally tending to movethe movable guide and pusher plate toward the cutting plane, a one-wayclutch mechanism interposed between the fixed and movable guide membersbiased to clutching position and tending normally to secure the guidemembers together to lock the movable guide against movement towards theknife while leaving the pusher plate free to be retracted, and amanually operable clutch control element to release said clutch topermit theyielding means to advance the pusher plate.

5. In a slicing machine which includes a knife and means for actuatingit, a gauge plate, a car'- riage and means for guiding the carriageacross the face of the gauge plate and past the cutting edge of theknife, a pusher plate mounted on said carriage and normally movabletoward the cutting plane, guiding means for said pusher plate includinga hollow sleeve normally fixed in relation to the carriage, asurrounding sliding sleeve slidable on said first mentioned hollowsleeve, yielding means tending normally to move said last mentionedsleeve, and the pusher plate with it, toward the cutting plane, andself-setting brake means adapted normally to resist such movement of thelast mentioned sleeve, said brake means being effective throughout awide range of positions of the outer sleeve, the pusher plate beingslidably and rotatably mounted upon the outer sleeve, and manuallyoperable means for rendering the brake means inoperative, to permit thepusher plate to be advanced toward the cutting plane. a

6. In a slicing machine which includes a knife and means for actuatingit, a gauge plate, a carriage and means for guiding the carriage acrossthe face of gauge plate and past the cutting edge of the knife, manualmeans for moving said carriage, a guide on saidcarriage, generallyperpendicular to the cutting plane, a plate mounted for movement alongsaid guide toward and away from the cutting plane, means tendingnormally to urge the plate along the guide toward the cutting plane andself-acting friction brake means,

associated with the plate and guide, tending normally to resist suchmovement of the plate, said brake means including a member surroundingsaid guide, a plurality of roller elements interposed between saidmember and said guide, and yielding means for directing locking pressureagainst said roller elements, and manual control means, independent ofthe manual carriage moving means, operable to release said brake meanswhereby said plate moving means may advance the plate said brake meansbeing effective at a wide range of positions of the plate, and beingeffective at all times except during the period of manual manipulationof the direct manual control means.

free to be retracted, said locking means, independent of movement of thecarriage along its path, including a one-Way mechanism biased'toclutching position, and a manually operable clutch control element forreleasing said clutch at any position of the carriage to permit saidspring means to advance the pusher plate.

8. In a slicing machine which includesa knife and means for actuatingit, a carriage and means for guiding the carriage past the cutting edgeof the knife, a pusher plate, means for mounting the pusher plate on thecarriage for movement toward and away from the cutting plane of theknife, including a guide member fixably mounted on the carriage, asleeve member slidably mounted upon said fixed guide, said pusher platebeing mounted upon said sleeve, yielding means tending normally to movethe sleeve and pusher plate toward the cutting plane, self-locking meanstending normally to secure the sleeve and guide to lock the sleeveagainst movement toward the cutting plane while leaving the same free tobe retracted, said locking means being effective at all positions of thecarriage along its path, and means manually to release said lockingmeans to allow the yielding means to advance the pusher plate, said lastmentioned releasing means being independent of the position of thecarriage.

9. In a slicing machine which includes a knife and means for actuatingit, a carriage and means for guiding the carriage past the cutting edgeof the knife, a pusher plate, means for mounting the pusher plate on thecarriage for movement toward and away from the cutting plane of theknife and including a guide fixed on the carriage, a guide for thepusher plate axially movable in relation to the fixed guide, the pusherplate being mounted upon; said last mentioned guide, yielding meansnormally tending to move the movable guide and pusher plate toward thecutting plane, self-locking means including a one-way clutch biased toclutching position interposed between the fixed and the movable guidemembers and tending to relatively secure said members to lock themovable guide gainst movement toward the cutting plane of the knifewhile leaving it free to be retracted, said locking means beingeffective at all positions of the carriage along its path, and amanually operable clutch control element for releasing the clutch topermit the yielding means to advance the movable guide and pusher plate,said last mentioned releasing means being independent of the position ofthe carriage.

10. In a slicing machine which includes a knife and means for actuatingit, a carriage and means for guiding the carriage past the cutting edgeof the knife, a pusher plate, means for mounting the pusher plate on thecarriage for movement toward and away from the cutting plane of theknife and including a guide fixed on the carriage, a guide for thepusher plate axially movable in relation to said fixed guide, the pusherplate being slidably mounted upon said last mentioned guide, yieldingmeans normally tending to move the movable guide and pusher plate towardthe cutting plane, a one-way clutch mechanism interposed between thefixed and movable guide members biased to clutching position and tendingnormally to secure the guide members together to lock the movable guideagainst movement toward the knife but leaving the pusher plate free tobe retracted, said locking means being effective at all positions of thecarriage along its path, and a manually operable clutch control elementto release said clutch to permit the yielding means to advance thepusher plate, said last mentioned releasing means being independent ofthe position of the carriage.

WILLIAM J. CAMPBELL.

